Baseball needs to shed its image as a mainly American sport to win back a spot at the Olympics, the sport’s international federation president said.
Riccardo Fraccari said on Tuesday that baseball must rebrand itself as an international game and that he sees great potential to expand in parts of Europe as well as Africa and the Middle East, where Iraq and Iran have approached him about investing in the sport.
“The message you have to give to people is that baseball is a global sport, not American,” Fraccari said on the sidelines of the SportAccord International Convention in Dubai.
Fraccari also said he will work with softball to team up on a joint bid in 2013 to get back into the Olympics. Baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympic program after the 2008 Beijing Games.
Fraccari, an Italian who became president of the International Baseball Federation in December, said his top priority was returning baseball to the Olympics. He acknowledged that baseball was far more developed in the US than elsewhere, but pointed to thriving leagues in Latin America, Japan and other parts of Asia as a sign that it is “a very global sport.”
“Many times when people approach me, they talk as if it’s an American sport,” he said. “It’s not true.”
In 2005, softball and baseball became the first sports in 69 years to be voted out of the Olympics. Both lost appeals for reinstatement in 2006 and then set their sights on this year’s vote to get back on the program for 2016.
Instead, International Olympic leaders voted to add golf and rugby to the 2016 Games, while softball, baseball and three other sports were left out.
At the time, then International Baseball Federation president Harvey Schiller expressed disappointment that softball had distanced itself from baseball following the 2005 vote, rejecting an offer of a joint Olympic bid. Instead, softball mounted a campaign to plant seeds for the sport in places like the Middle East and Africa and touted its clean doping record.
But that could be changing. With only one sport expected to be added in 2013, the International Softball Federation President Don Porter said his organization was “exploring the possibility” of a joint bid with baseball, though he said no decision has been taken.
The issue is expected to be on the agenda when officials from the two federations meet this week at the SportAccord.
After being dropped from the Olympics, baseball has focused on ramping up interest in the World Baseball Classic and the baseball World Cup.
Many of the games in the 22-team World Cup were played in Europe, which Fraccari sees as the next big market for the sport.
“If you look at Europe, it is a big potential market,” he said. “There is money. There are good organizations and a strong mentality of sport.”
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
‘IT’S BASEBALL’: In just the second error to end a post-season series in the MLB, the Phillies reliever fumbled a comebacker and threw to home, despite the signal Eyes red, Orion Kerkering on Thursday received words of support from his Philadelphia Phillies teammates. “Just keep your head up. It’s an honest mistake. Just, it’s baseball,” he remembered hearing. “You’ll be good for a long time to come,” they added. “It’s not my fault, then. We had opportunities to score,” was the message he kept getting. Kerkering made a wild throw past home plate instead of tossing to first after mishandling Andy Pages’ bases-loaded comebacker with two outs in the 11th inning. Pinch-runner Kim Hye-seong scored and the Phillies were eliminated with a 2-1 loss that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a
RSS